What is Pronomianism?
Reiterating what it means to be a pronomian Christian and why we abide in the Sabbath and appointed festivals, kashrut, and all relevant commandments.
Convenient as the definition of pronomianism as being “pro-Law” is, it is nevertheless too simplistic and needs a fuller treatment. The First Pronomian Statement is a great start, but if pronomianism is to have a genuine hope of being seriously considered within academic communities and Christian congregations worldwide, it needs a definition agreed upon by its proponents that is succinct and allows no room for erroneous interpretation. What follows is a proposed foundational definition that takes into consideration all that has been written on this topic and harmonizes various concepts into a single coherent thought.
Pronomianism is a pro-Torah hermeneutic, a methodology of interpretation, that theologically approaches all sixty-six books of the Scripture as a unified canon (i.e., the completed Torah) and as authoritative, infallible, inspired, and inerrant in nature, while teaching that practical application of divinely commanded instructions are a means of sanctification in the life of the redeemed believer. As Scripture is its own interpreter, passages are interpreted according to context, culture, grammar, literature, and history, as affirmed by the authorship of God the Holy Spirit, understanding that the immutability of Scripture extends to the breathed-out words of יהוה preserved for all redeemed generations. Pronomianism affirms that abiding in the commanded instructions of יהוה given to His eternal ecclesia has no bearing on salvation nor contributes to justification (i.e. righteousness before יהוה), but is evidence of an individual’s salvation and the fruit of their walk (i.e. righteousness in the eyes of the world). It is love in action and a sanctifying component of the work of God the Holy Spirit in conforming the believer into the image of Messiah Yeshua, who fulfilled the Torah so to be emulated, not abolished, so to be discarded. The laws of the Torah are operative in the life of believers since their codification at Sinai and have never been tripartite in nature (for all are inherently moral in their nature). Pronomianism insists that as יהוה is immutable, as is His Word, and that His words were never to be abolished or interpreted so as to abolished any part, as all were intended for redeemed Jews and Gentiles and never ethnocentric in nature. While Scripture has a single interpretation, the laws of the Torah can be applied literally or non-literally (principally and paradigmatically) and differentiate based on age, gender, and social status.
While pronomianism relates primarily to the doctrine of sanctification,[1] it acknowledges that a pro-Torah hermeneutic has a direct impact on ecclesiology, maintaining that redeemed Jew and Gentile believers in the Messiah are neither sanctified independently nor are meant to be physically separate in their communal life of fellowship. Instead, they are one body of believers who congregate as a covenantal community, called out and chosen from the nations of the earth, a royal priesthood and holy nation of יהוה. Fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant, the covenantal community has had several different names throughout history, but it is principally understood as the ecclesia and the Israel of יהוה.[2]
[1] Published after my dissertation which is currently being revised into a book, Gregory Scott McKenzie’s dissertation on pronomianism is essential reading to further define pronomianism. Gregory Scott. “Pronomian Paradigm: A Pro-Torah, Christocentric Method of Theology and Apologetics.” Ph.D. diss., Liberty University, 2024. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5623/. His definition of pronomianism is as follows: “The prevalent theologies of contemporary Christianity cannot remain consistent, cohesive, comprehensive, or comely when they attempt to answer questions about the “difficult-to-understand” words and deeds of Paul. Put another way, these theologies fail the abductive test of theological method and biblical interpretation… Pronomianism is the paradigm that most cohesively melds theology and apologetics, through its interpretation of Paul’s words and deeds at the second Jerusalem council, which unveils the Torah’s centrality in New Testament theology, and that Pronomian moral apologetics reveal the Law of God as the only foundation for objective, biblical morality, and the guide to righteous living.” His dissertation has been re-edited and released as Walking Orderly, Keeping the Law: A Pronomian Pocket Guide to Acts 21:20-26 (Clover, SC: Pronomian Publishing, 2024).
[2] On the argument of the ecclesia (church) being “the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16) there have been many convincing contentions advanced in scholarship. G. K. Beale, “Peace and Mercy Upon the Israel of God: The Old Testament Background of Galatians 6:16b,” Biblica 80, no. 2 (1999): 204–23; Christopher W. Cowan, “Context Is Everything: ‘The Israel of God’ In Galatians 6:16,” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 14, no. 3 (2010): 78–85; Andreas J. Köstenberger, “The Identity of the ̓ΙΣΡΑΗΛ ΤΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ (Israel of God) in Galatians 6:16,” Faith and Mission 19 (2001): 3–24.